The present invention relates generally to the field of archery equipment, and more particularly, is directed to a novel bow string drawing and releasing device.
The present invention is directed to a device which can be manually held and which is designed to engage the string of an archer's bow to aid in the drawing back of the bow string. When engaging in the sport of archery, it is well known practice to employ a bow including a bow string for use in shooting arrows. The speed, accuracy and distance to which the arrows can be propelled is a direct function of the spring constant of the bow and the strength of the archer in pulling back the bow string through a distance to directly overcome the natural spring bias of the bow itself. As the bows become sturdier, they offer a greater resistance to bending and therefore require greater strength on the part of the archer to produce satisfactory results.
Persons who enjoy the sport of archery have found that their ability to draw the bow string has been hampered to a considerable extent by the physical characteristics of the bow and of the bow string itself. Specifically, it has been the usual practice to employ two fingers, namely, the index finger and the middle finger for pulling the bow string rearwardly. This, of course, presents definite limitations in that all of the strength of the archer cannot be readily applied to the bow string by employing only the two fingers for bow drawing purposes. Also, the pressure created by the bow string upon the fingers has a tendency to limit the forces which can be conveniently applied. Because of this, prior workers in the field have attempted to develop various types of mechanical bow trigger mechanisms to thereby permit an archer to employ a mechanical device as an aid to both pulling the bow string rearwardly and in releasing the bow string at the desired moment. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,488,597 and 2,977,952 are exemplary of the type of prior art bow trigger mechanisms that are presently available.
The prior art bow trigger mechanisms of which I am familiar have proved generally satisfactory in performance, but have been somewhat limited in their application due to the complexity of the systems and in the difficulty in operation presented by such mechanisms. It has been found that it is the natural movement of the archer to pull the bow string rearwardly along a relatively horizontal plane. In order to develop full strength, it is desirable to permit the archer to employ all of his muscular activity directly in line with the path of travel of the arrow as it is pulled horizontally rearwardly. The prior art bow trigger mechanisms have somewhat hampered such movement in that, in most instances, the trigger mechamism has usually been positioned out of longitudinal alignment with the arrow, thereby effectively reducing the forces which can be employed to pull the bow rearwardly.